Accessory for holding goods

ABSTRACT

Accessory for holding goods, comprising a case-like structure, in which there are holders for holding tools and similar placed in it. In the accessory, there is a separate compartment, separated by spacing pieces for a cutting weapon, such as a sheath knife. On the bottom of this compartment, there is also a protrusion that turns the blade of the knife away from the rear cover.

37 C.F.R. Å1.71(e) AUTHORIZATION

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the US Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS, IF ANY

Not applicable.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX, IF ANY BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present invention relates to an accessory for holding goods. Morespecifically, the matter is particularly, though not solely, of anaccessory intended to hold small tools used in building work.

2. Background Information

During building and renovation work, a numerous group of different typesof tool are required. An electrician will need many different kinds ofscrewdriver, current testers, and similar, but also particularly asheath knife. A sheath knife is also a necessary and even essential toolfor professionals and amateurs in many other trades.

The working environment is seldom such that all work required can beperformed while standing. Thus, in nearly all work goods will need to bepicked up from floor level, bending in one direction and another andalso making other movements deviating from the standing position. Thiscreates the danger that the tools that are hanging loops from clothing,or which, for example in the case of a sheath knife, have been placed ina sheath, will detach from their storage location and fall. This cancause even a serious danger to bystanders. For example, a sheath knifecan fall and strike a bystander.

Attempts have been made to place tools in various types of holder, someof which are intended to be kept on a desk or similar surface, but someof which are intended to be attached to, for example, a shirt pocket.Such a holder is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,056,180, which presents acase, which is placed in a shirt pocket, where it is held in place by aflexible clip. Pens and similar are held in place by a material, intowhich the pens are pushed.

A device of the kind described above is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.4,189,048, in which pens are held in place with the aid of plastictongues.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The present invention is intended to create an accessory, by means ofwhich the drawbacks of the prior art can be avoided and which isparticularly suitable for use in work that requires a sheath knife.

The aforementioned and other advantages and benefits of the presentinvention are achieved by means of an accessory, the characterizingfeatures of which are stated in the accompanying Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

In the following, the invention is described in greater detail withreference to the accompanying schematic drawings, which show onepracticable and well-regarded embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows an axonometric view of the accessory according to theinvention;

FIG. 2 shows the accessory according to FIG. 1 with the front coverremoved;

FIG. 3 shows, for its part, a view of the accessory according to theinvention, seen from straight in front and in part transparent; and

FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view A-A of the former view.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Thus, FIG. 1 shows an axonometric view of the accessory 1 according tothe invention 1. It is formed essentially of two shell parts attached toeach other, a rear cover 2 and a front cover 3. These parts 2 and 3 aresuitably attached to each other, for instance using screws or, forexample, by gluing. As FIG. 1 clearly shows, the rear cover 2 is longerthan the front cover 3, so that in use the upper part of it forms anessentially plate-like protrusion, in which suitable means can be made,for instance for attaching it to work clothes. A shown in the figure,these means are holes 4, through which the accessory 1 can be attached,for example, by screws to a plastic-backed material in the vicinity ofthe breast pocket of an overall.

In the embodiment shown, the rear cover 2 is clearly longer than thefront cover. The extension is marked with the reference number 2′. Theextension has several purposes. One purpose is to create a suitable baseas a location for instructions and diagrams. A second purpose is toprotect the user, in cases in which the accessory according to theinvention is placed on a piece of clothing that is close to the user=sskin. Thus, for example, putting a screwdriver or sheath knife in placewill not cause the danger that the user may accidentally stab himself. Athird important advantage of the said extension is that, if theaccessory is placed, for example, in the vicinity of, for instance abreast pocket, the attachment point will be higher up in clothing, dueto the extension, so that, when stooping, the clothing cannot stretchinto the field of vision, to interfere with work. As is known, clothesnearer to the shoulders are closer to the user.

If it is wished to place the accessory according to the invention insidethe breast pocket of an overall, the fitting can be assisted with theaid of the flexible protrusions 5 protruding from the sides of theaccessory 1. These protrusions, which are especially of rubber or asimilar material are flexible plate-like protrusions, which, whenstraight or bent, fit into the inner sides of the pocket and makefitting into the pocket easy and secure.

In use, flexible protrusions 6, which extend from both sides of theopening are set in the opening between the cover parts, and which can bepin-like, narrow plate shaped, or similar. The important fact is thatthe protrusions 6 are flexible. The intention is that a tool or devicepushed between the protrusions 6 will remain in place in such a mannerthat it cannot fall out. This is achieved by the device being pressedbetween the flexible protrusions 6. The material of the protrusions 6 issuch that their friction acting on the device will be sufficient to holdthe object in place, even if the accessory 1 turns upside down.

It can also be seen from FIG. 1 that, in the use of the accessory 1according to the invention, particular attention has been paid to thelocation of one device that often causes accidents according to theprior art, i.e. the sheath knife. Thus, in the accessory according tothe invention, the sheath knife has its own compartment.

FIG. 1 uses drawing markings to illustrate the location, into which asheath knife can be pushed in a manner that mostly prevents damage. Itis described in the following.

In FIG. 2, the front cover 3 of the accessory according to the inventionhas been removed, thus revealing the interior of the accessory. As canbe seen, there are holes 8 near to the lower edge of the accessory, fora screw or similar attachment. Access to them is through the slightlylarger holes 7 in the front cover 3. Thus, if it is wished to attach theaccessory, for instance to work clothes, this can be done suitably byutilizing the holes 7 and 8.

It was stated above that the location of the sheath knife has a specialposition in the accessory according to the invention. Thus, it can beclearly seen from FIG. 2, that the part of the accessory reserved forthe sheath knife is separated from the rest of the compartment by aspacing piece 9. Such spacing pieces can be in both the rear cover 2 andthe front cover 3, in which case they will mainly take up alternatingpositions in sequential order, to form a sturdy partition.

If it is wished to increase sturdiness, the spacing pieces 9 of the rearcover can lock into recesses in the front wall and similarly the spacingpieces attached to the front cover can lock into recesses at a freedistance in the rear cover. Of course, there are many other ways inwhich to achieve sturdiness, the simplest being to increase thethickness of the material. The essential purpose of a sturdy spacingpiece is, in exceptional cases, to prevent the blade of the knife fromturning to the side and causing a danger there.

A second safety factor in the sheath-knife compartment of the accessoryaccording to the invention is that, by ensuring at the location of theblade of the knife that the blade cannot also accidently turn, forinstance through the rear cover of the accessory in a breast pocket andinto the user=s chest, thus ensuring that damage is prevented orminimized. Thus, this is ensured by making a step or reinforcement 10 inthe rear cover 2 at the location of the knife blade.

The first factor relating to safety using the said step 10 is that,thanks to it, the knife blade turns to a slightly slanting attitude awayfrom the rear cover 2, in which case its natural attitude will be suchthat rotation directed to the knife hilt cannot bring the point of theknife towards the chest of the person using the accessory.

FIG. 3 shows the accessory according to the inventionas >transparent=while FIG. 4, for its part, shows a cross-section A-A ofFIG. 3.

The embodiment shown by FIGS. 3 and 4 will be clear on the basis of thedescriptions and marked reference numbers of FIGS. 1 and 2.

The well-regarded embodiment of the invention described above can bevaried in many ways, without nevertheless deviating from the basic ideaof the invention and the scope of the protection of the accompanyingClaims. It goes without saying, that the shapes of the accessory can bevaried in many ways to change its appearance. The surfaces of theaccessory can be used as a base for various instructions, or evenadvertisements. The slightly curved cross-sectional shape shown in FIG.4 can equally well be straight.

The accessory according to the invention can be made using the dimensionratios shown, but a wider or a narrower shape is also possible. Thevertical dimension can be selected in such a way that the toolsaccording to the intended use are taken into account, in such a way thatthe average lengths of the tools will be appropriately taken intoaccount. In addition to the variations described above, many othervariations are also possible.

The embodiments above are chosen, described and illustrated so thatpersons skilled in the art will be able to understand the invention andthe manner and process of making and using it. The descriptions and theaccompanying drawings should be interpreted in the illustrative and notthe exhaustive or limited sense. The invention is not intended to belimited to the exact forms disclosed. While the application attempts todisclose all of the embodiments of the invention that are reasonablyforeseeable, there may be unforeseeable insubstantial modifications thatremain as equivalents. It should be understood by persons skilled in theart that there may be other embodiments than those disclosed which fallwithin the scope of the invention as defined by the claims. Where aclaim, if any, is expressed as a means or step for performing aspecified function it is intended that such claim be construed to coverthe corresponding structure, material, or acts described in thespecification and equivalents thereof, including both structuralequivalents and equivalent structures, material-based equivalents andequivalent materials, and act-based equivalents and equivalent acts.

1. Accessory for holding goods, comprising a case-like structure, inwhich there are holders for holding tools and similar placed in it,wherein, in the accessory there is a separate compartment, separated byspacing pieces for a cutting weapon, such as a sheath knife, on thebottom of which is a protrusion that turns the blade of the knife awayfrom the rear cover.
 2. Accessory according to claim 1, wherein thespacing pieces are formed of partition parts, in an alternatingsequence, protruding from the front and rear covers.
 3. Accessoryaccording to claim 1, wherein the protrusion is a thickening in the rearcover.
 4. Accessory according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion is afold in the rear cover.
 5. Accessory according to claim 1, furthercomprising flexible protrusions protruding towards its sides. 6.Accessory according to claim 5, wherein the flexible protrusions are ofrubber or a rubber-like material.
 7. Accessory according to claim 1,wherein the accessory is manufactured from an essentially sheet-likeplastic material.
 8. Accessory according to claim 1, wherein the holdersare essentially pin-like and of a flexible material.
 9. Accessoryaccording to claim 1, wherein the accessory has an upper part, and therear cover is clearly longer than a front cover.